This gemlike work demonstrates both Shitao’s mastery of the album format and his ability to innovate within it. Landscape scenes alternate with tightly cropped floral vignettes, taking the viewer on a rollercoaster ride with each turn of the page. Shitao’s calligraphy, too, changes with each leaf, seeming to mirror the shifts in content and style. The artist created this work after he had abandoned his dream of finding fame in Beijing and returned south to become a professional painter. The journey, which begins in the first leaf with a landscape scene, culminates in leaf five, with a man in a boat—almost certainly Shitao himself—passing through a desolate river landscape, before finding resolution in the final image of a single narcissus.

As falling leaves descend with the wind,I return by the water through a thinning mist;I see a tiny hut clinging to the bank of a green stream,How soft and fat the white clouds look in the cold air.Shitao

落葉隨風下，殘煙蕩水歸。小亭依碧澗，寒襯白雲肥。石濤

Leaf 2 (3 columns in standard script):

First it shows one or two blossoms,Gradually we see five or ten flowers;In a setting sun with brilliant clouds glowing in the distance,How the beautiful flowers compete with my brush and ink.

初試一朵兩朵，漸看十田五田。落日霞明遠映，與余筆墨爭先。

Leaf 3 (3 columns in semi-cursive script):

High on the mountain the beautiful colors are cold,Where flying white clouds cease to look white. The Daoist from Qingxiang, Ji

山高秀色寒，白雲飛不白。清湘道人濟

Leaf 4 (4 columns in standard script):

Words from a sympathetic heart are as fragrant as orchids;Like orchids in feeling, they are agreeable and always joyous;You should wear these orchids to protect yourself from the spring chill;When the spring winds are cold, who can say you are safe?Old Man of Bitter Melon, Ji

同心之言，其臭如蘭。如蘭之意，其合永歡。子宜佩之，保護春寒。春風寒兮，誰謂乎安？苦瓜老人濟

Leaf 5 (5 columns in semi-cursive/standard script):

A despondent man from QingxiangPasses by looking for old friends;With no money to buy a mountain to live on,He sleeps peacefully, pillowing his head on his own fist.Though he has seen much, beyond many rivers and skies,He loses his heart to the Cuncao Ting ["Inch-sized Thatched Hut"];In a light skiff you and he toured together,Not even a boatman was present to distract you. The word “stop” (ting) is changed to “pass” (guo) because I was on a boat. On leaving the river village at Baisha [near Yangzhou]. Man under the Single Branch, Ji

Fields of flowers and leaves fill ditches full of water,A fragrant breeze lingers by a boat gathering lotus flowers;Phrases of a tune mixed with the sound of oars striking the water,Stir the white clouds, setting bits of them afloat. Sketching ideas in a boat to gather lotus seeds at the village of Baisha. The Blind Arhat, Ji

花葉田田水滿溝，香風時繫採蓮舟。一聲歌韻一聲槳，驚起白雲幾片浮。白沙江邨採蓮舟中寫意。瞎尊者濟

Leaf 7 (3 columns in standard script):

A wilderness hut, lonely and desolate, on a wild mountainside,A flowerless old tree leaning over the water’s edge;After supper, I wander here seeking quiet scenery,How sad the sunset feels, when I am so cold and bitter.Shitao, Ji

荒亭岑寂荒山裏，老樹無花傍水磯。飯後尋幽偶到此，十分寒苦慘斜暉。石濤濟

Leaf 8 (4 columns in standard script):

Plum blossoms in October sending forth a cold fragrance,Are accompanied by the late-bloomer, the chrysanthemum;Since Heaven and Earth have no special favorites,Will the plum and the chrysanthemum blossom together again in the Spring? One of two poems entitled “Plum Blossoms in the Ninth Lunar Month.” The Blind Arhat, Yuanji

九月寒香露太真，東籬晚節可為鄰。從來天地無私運，梅菊同開一樣春。九月梅花二首之一。瞎尊者原濟

Leaf 9 (3 columns in standard script):

New bamboo shoots grow taller than the eaves of the house,Deep in the morning mist, a mountain peak can be seen;May in the mountains feels like November,Leaning on a railing, I feel the cold dew on my coat and hat.Follower of Hinayana from Qingxiang, Ji

新長龍絲過屋檐，曉雲深處露峰尖。山中四月如十月，衣帽憑欄冷翠霑。清湘小乘客濟

Leaf 10 (3 columns in semi-cursive/standard script):

In this picture I follow Li Cheng's style of branches with a new idea: I see a beautiful maiden, simple and elegant, with only a touch of cosmetics. As I try to capture her inimitable smile, I suddenly realize that I shall never entirely succeed. Ji

此幀擬李營丘而有別意。美人素質澹妝流麗，漫爾效顰，不免氣縮。濟

Leaf 11 (3 columns in clerical script):

The mountain colors are a hoary green, the trees are turning autumnal,A yellowish mist rises thinly against a rushing stream;In a traveler's lodge, Bitter Melon [Shitao] passes his time with a brush,His painting method ought to put old Guanxiu [832-912] to shame.The Blind Arhat, Yuanji

山色蒼蒼樹色秋，黃雲欲碎背谿流。苦瓜客舍消閒筆，畫灋應愧老貫休。瞎尊者原濟

Leaf 12 (4 columns in semi-cursive/standard script):

Oh narcissus and plum blossoms, you are enjoyed together by us,In the wintry months, the two of you compete for glory;On a warm day by a bright window, I hold my brush,How my quiet thoughts wander -- beyond the boundless shores.Follower of Hinayana, Ji

I have read a few commentaries on painting in Zheng Banqiao’s [Zheng Xie, 1693-1765] collected writings that read: “Shitao, who excelled in painting, was able to paint in a myriad of different ways; orchids and bamboo were easy for him. I, Banqiao, can paint only orchids and bamboo. I am over fifty of age, and I paint nothing else. If he [Shitao] concentrated on being broad, then I have concentrated on being specialized. And who can say that one is better than the other? Shitao’s painting methods have thousands and tens of thousands of transformations; they can be extraordinarily hoary and ancient, and yet delicate and smooth. Compared to the works of Bada Shanren, they show only strengths rather than weaknesses. Today, however, Bada’s reputation fills the nation, while Shitao is known only in our Yangzhou prefecture. Why is this so? It is because while Bada uses only one type of reduced brushwork, Shitao’s paintings, by comparison, seem too detailed and luxuriant. Furthermore, Bada is not known by other names; so he is easily remembered. Shitao, on the other hand, is known not only as Hongji, but also as Qingxiang Daoren, as Kugua Heshang, as Dadizi, and as Xia Zunzhe. When too many sobriquets are used, they become confusing. Bada is only Bada. Likewise, I, Banqiao, am always Banqiao. So, on this account alone, I regret I shall not be following Master Shi[tao].” [2] Tessai transcribed this for the appreciation of the worthy Kuwana.